IRS tax forms

"Schedule C", "Schedule D", and "Schedule E" redirect here. For the UK taxation schedules, see Taxation in the United Kingdom.

IRS tax forms are used for taxpayers and tax-exempt organizations to report financial information to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the United States. They are used to report income, calculate taxes to be paid to the federal government, and disclose other information as required by the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). There are over 800 various forms and schedules. Other tax forms in the United States are filed with state and local governments.

Individual forms

1040

First page of Form 1040 for 2005 tax year
Main article: Form 1040

Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, is one of three forms (1040 [the "Long Form"], 1040A [the "Short Form"] and 1040EZ - see below for explanations of each) used for personal (individual) federal income tax returns filed with the IRS. The first Form 1040 was published for use for the tax years 1913, 1914, and 1915. For 1916, Form 1040 was converted to an annual form (i.e., updated each year with the new tax year printed on the form).[1] Initially, the IRS mailed tax booklets (Form 1040, instructions, and most common attachments) to all households. As alternative delivery methods (CPA/Attorneys, Internet forms) increased in popularity, the IRS sent fewer packets via mail. In 2009 this practice was discontinued.

Income tax returns for individual calendar year taxpayers are due by April 15 of the next year, except when April 15 falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or a legal holiday. In those circumstances, the returns are due on the next business day. An automatic extension until Oct. 15 to file Form 1040 can be obtained by filing Form 4868.

Form 1040 consists of two full pages not counting attachments. The first page collects information about the taxpayer(s), dependents, income items, and adjustments to income. The second page calculates the allowable deductions and credits, tax due given the income figure, and applies funds already withheld from wages or estimated payments made towards the tax liability. At the top of the first page is the Presidential election campaign fund checkoff, which allows taxpayers to designate that the federal government give $3 of the tax it receives to the Presidential election campaign fund.

Form 1040 has 14 attachments, called "schedules", which may need to be filed depending on the taxpayer. For 2009 and 2010 there was an additional form, Schedule M, due to the "Making Work Pay" provision of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ("the stimulus"):

In 2014 there were two additions to Form 1040 due to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act – the premium tax credit and the individual mandate.[4]

In most situations, other Internal Revenue Service or Social Security Administration forms such as Form W-2 must be attached to the Form 1040, in addition to the Form 1040 schedules. There are over 100 other, specialized forms that may need to be completed along with Schedules and the Form 1040.

Short forms

Over the years, other "Short Forms" were used for short periods of time. For example, in the 1960s, they used an IBM Card on which a few lines could be written which would then be transcribed onto another card. The other card looked the same but had holes in it which a computer or "unit record" machine could read. As with the other forms, there was always a place for a signature.

The Form 1040A ("short form"), U.S. individual income tax return, is a shorter version of the Form 1040. Use of Form 1040A is limited to taxpayers with taxable income below $100,000 who take the standard deduction instead of itemizing deductions; it was originally one page until the 1982 edition, when it expanded to two pages.

The Form 1040EZ ("easy form"), Income Tax Return for Single and Joint Filers With No Dependents, is the simplest, six-section Federal income tax return, introduced in 1982. Its use is limited to taxpayers with taxable income below $100,000 (as of tax year 2011) who take the standard deduction instead of itemizing deductions and have no dependents.

Fiduciary reporting

According to section 1223(b) of the Pension Protection Act of 2006, a nonprofit organization that does not file annual returns or notices for three consecutive years will have its tax-exempt status revoked as of the due date of the third return or notice.[5] An organization's tax-exempt status may be reinstated if it can show reasonable cause for the years of nonfiling.[6]

990

Main article: Form 990

The Form 990 provides the public with financial information about a nonprofit organization, and is often the only source of such information. It is also used by government agencies to prevent organizations from abusing their tax-exempt status. In June 2007, the IRS released a new Form 990 that requires significant disclosures on corporate governance and boards of directors. These new disclosures are required for all nonprofit filers for the 2009 tax year, with more significant reporting requirements for nonprofits with over $1 million in revenues or $2.5 million in assets. In addition, certain nonprofits have more comprehensive reporting requirements, such as hospitals and other health care organizations (Schedule H). The Form 990 may be filed with the IRS by mail or electronically with an Authorized IRS e-file Provider.

The Form 990 disclosures do not require but strongly encourage nonprofit boards to adopt a variety of board policies regarding governance practices. These suggestions go beyond Sarbanes-Oxley requirements for nonprofits to adopt whistleblower and document retention policies. The IRS has indicated they will use the Form 990 as an enforcement tool, particularly regarding executive compensation. For example, nonprofits that adopt specific procedures regarding executive compensation are offered safe harbor from excessive compensation rules under section 4958 of the Internal Revenue Code and Treasury Regulation section 53.4958-6.[7]

Public Inspection IRC 6104(d) regulations state that an organization must provide copies of its three most recent Forms 990 to anyone who requests them, whether in person, by mail, fax, or e-mail. Additionally, requests may be made via the IRS using Form 4506-A, and PDF copies can often be found online as noted below.

In addition to Form 990, tax-exempt organizations are also subject to a variety of disclosure and compliance requirements through various schedules which are attached to Form 990 (and, in some cases, 990-EZ or 990-PF). Filing of schedules by organizations supplements, enhances, and further clarifies disclosures and compliance reporting made in Form 990. Often, filing of schedules is mandatory, but there are situations where organizations not otherwise subject to filing requirements may consider completing certain schedules despite not being technically obligated to. The current list of possible schedule filings are:

5500

The Form 5500, Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan, was developed jointly by the IRS, United States Department of Labor, and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation to satisfy filing requirements both under the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The Form 5500 is an important compliance, research, and disclosure tool intended to assure that employee benefit plans are properly managed and to provide participants, beneficiaries, and regulators with sufficient information to protect their rights. Starting in 2009, all Forms 5500 must be filed electronically on the website of the Department of Labor.

Other

The Form 1040NR, U.S. Nonresident Alien Income Tax Return, and its shorter version Form 1040NR-EZ, U.S. Income Tax Return for Certain Nonresident Aliens With No Dependents, are used by nonresident aliens who have U.S. source income and therefore have to file a U.S. tax return. Joint returns are not permitted, so that husband and wife must each file a separate return. The Form 1040NR-EZ can be used under conditions similar to those for the 1040EZ form.[20]

The Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Tax Return, is used to make corrections to Form 1040, Form 1040A, and Form 1040EZ tax returns that have been previously filed. Generally for a tax refund, this form must be filed within 3 years after the date that the original version was filed, or within 2 years after the date that the tax was paid, whichever is later. Forms 1040X are processed manually and therefore take longer than regular returns. For years prior to 2010, Form 1040X had three columns: for the amounts from the original version, for the net increase or decrease for each line being changed, and for the corrected amounts. For 2010, the form was condensed with a single column for the corrected amounts. Due to confusion amongst taxpayers on how to complete the single-column form, the IRS revised the Form 1040X again for 2011 by returning to the original three-column format.

Self-employed individuals and others who do not have enough income taxes withheld, might need to file Form 1040-ES, Estimated Tax for Individuals, each quarter to make estimated installments of annual tax liability (pay-as-you-go tax).

Entity returns

1120 series

Form 1120 (officially the "U.S Corporate Income Tax Return") is one of the IRS tax forms used by corporations (specifically, C corporations) in the United States to report their income, gains, losses, deductions, credits and to figure out their tax liability.[21][22][23] The form has many variants for corporations with different structures; the most common variant is the Form 1120S used by S corporations.[24][25] Form 1120 consists of 1 page with 36 lines and 6 additional schedules. Lines 1-11 deal with income, lines 12−29 deal with deductions, and lines 30-36 deal with tax, refundable credits, and payments.[26]

Form 1120 was originally introduced under the presidency of Woodrow Wilson at the end of World War I, and described as the "blank on which corporations will report their war excess profits and income taxes." The first applicable tax year was 1918, and the form was made available around March 15, 1919.[27] Two other forms released the same year were Form 1065 (for partnerships and personal service corporations) and Form 1115 (for nonresident aliens to receive the benefit of personal exemptions).[28] The release of these forms came only a few years after the release of Form 1040, the personal income tax return form, that first applied to the 1913 tax year.[29][30]

The Tax Foundation has published studies on the effective tax rate and its distribution across corporations, as well as the compliance cost.[31] Form 1120 is also included in Tax Foundation reports on the overall cost of tax compliance.[32] A New York Times article in 1994 cited a Tax Foundation report based on 1993 data for the claim that corporations with assets of less than $1 million spent $15.9 billion in tax compliance and yet effectively spent only $4.1 billion to pay taxes, suggesting a huge and inefficient cost of compliance.[21]

A 2015 report by the Wall Street Journal on the cost of tax compliance software estimated an average cost of $817 for Form 1120 and $778 for Form 1120S.[33]

Employment (payroll) taxes

Transfer taxes

Information returns

Informational returns are prepared by third parties (employers, banks, financial institutions, etc.) and report information to both the IRS and taxpayers to help them complete their own tax returns. The forms report the amounts only on a calendar year (January 1 through December 31) basis, regardless of the fiscal year used by the payer or payee for other federal tax purposes. Taxpayers are usually not required to attach informational returns to their own federal income tax returns unless the form shows federal income tax withheld. Many businesses and organizations must file thousands of information returns per year.

The issuance or non-issuance of an informational return is not determinative of the tax treatment required of the payee. For example, some income reported on Form 1099 might be nontaxable and some taxable income might not be reported at all. Each payee-taxpayer is legally responsible for reporting the correct amount of total income on his or her own federal income tax return regardless of whether an informational return was filed or received.

1095 series

Form 1095 series is used to report health care insurance coverage per the individual health insurance mandate of the Affordable Care Act tax provisions. Each 1095 form lists the primary recipient of the insurance policy along with all the individuals covered under it. The forms also report the period of the coverage, whether the entire year or only certain months.

There are three types of 1095 forms:

1098 series

1099 series

Main article: Form 1099

Form 1099 series is used to report various types of income other than wages, salaries, and tips (for which Form W-2 is used instead). Examples of reportable transactions are amounts paid to a non-corporate independent contractor for services (in IRS terminology, such payments are nonemployee compensation). The ubiquity of the form has also led to use of the phrase "1099 workers" or "the 1099 economy" to refer to the independent contractors themselves.[34] In 2011 the requirement has been extended by the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 to payments made by persons who receive income from rental property.

Each payer must complete a Form 1099 for each covered transaction. Four copies are made: one for the payer, one for the payee, one for the IRS, and one for the State Tax Department, if required.[35] Payers who file 250 or more Form 1099 reports must file all of them electronically with the IRS.[36] If the fewer than 250 requirement is met, and paper copies are filed, the IRS also requires the payer to submit a copy of Form 1096, which is a summary of information forms being sent to the IRS. The returns must be filed with the IRS by the end of February immediately following the year for which the income items or other proceeds are paid. Copies of the returns must be sent to payees, however, by the end of January. The law provides various dollar amounts under which no Form 1099 reporting requirement is imposed. For some Forms 1099, for example, no filing is required for payees who receive less than $600 from the payer during the applicable year.[37]

Variants for Form 1099

As of 2011, several versions of Form 1099 are used, depending on the nature of the income transaction:

5498 Series

W series

W-2

Main article: Form W-2

The Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, is used to report wages paid to employees and the taxes withheld from them.[38] Employers must complete a Form W-2 for each employee to whom they pay a salary, wage, or other compensation as part of the employment relationship. An employer must mail out the Form W-2 to employees on or before January 31. This deadline gives these taxpayers about 2 months to prepare their returns before the April 15 income tax due date. The form is also used to report FICA taxes to the Social Security Administration. The Form W-2, along with Form W-3, generally must be filed by the employer with the Social Security Administration by the end of February. Relevant amounts on Form W-2 are reported by the Social Security Administration to the Internal Revenue Service. In territories, the W-2 is issued with a two letter code indicating which territory, such as W-2GU for Guam. If corrections are made, it can be done on a W-2c. The British-Irish equivalent form to a W-2 is a P60.

W-2G

The Form W-2G, Gambling Winnings, is used to report Gambling Winnings (direct wager only) to the IRS. It is completed when the winnings are $600.00 or more in any one session and 300 times the buy-in or wager.

W-3

The Form W-3 is a summary page of all W-2 forms issued by the employer. It is only used on paper filing of W-2 information. Like the W-2, the W-3c allows for corrections. W-3SS is used for the W-2 territorial returns.

W-4

Main article: Form W-4

The Form W-4 is used by employers to determine the amount of tax withholding to deduct from employees' wages. The form is not mailed to the IRS but retained by the employer. Tax withholdings depend on employee's personal situation and ideally should be equal to the annual tax due on the Form 1040. When filling out a Form W-4 an employee calculates the number of Form W-4 allowances to claim based on his or her expected tax filing situation for the year. The amount of money withheld as federal income tax is reduced for each Form W-4 allowance taken. No interest is paid on over-withholding, but penalties might be imposed for under-withholding. Alternatively, or in addition, the employee can send quarterly estimated tax payments directly to the IRS (Form 1040-ES). Quarterly estimates may be required if the employee has additional income (e.g. investments or self-employment income) not subject to withholding or insufficiently withheld. There are specialized versions of this form for other types of payment (W-4P for pensions as an example).

W-5

The Form W-5 was filed by employees with their employer to claim an Advanced Earned Income Tax Credit to be added to their paychecks as an advance on the EITC they would claim when they filed their income tax. The Form has not been used since 2010, the last year that the EITC could be gotten in advance of filing a 1040.

W-7

The Form W-7 and related documents are the application for IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). This number is used to identify taxpayers who do not qualify for a social security number.

W-8 Series

The Form W-8BEN, Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding, is used by foreign persons (including corporations) to certify their non-U.S. status. The form establishes that one is a non-resident alien or foreign corporation, to avoid or reduce tax withholding from U.S. source income, such as rents from U.S. property, interest on U.S. bank deposits or dividends paid by U.S. corporations. The form is not used for U.S. wages and salaries earned by non-resident aliens (in which case Form W-4 is used), or for U.S. freelance (dependent personal services) income (in which case Form 8233 is used). The form requires the foreign person to provide a U.S. Taxpayer Identification Number unless the U.S. income is dividends or interest from actively traded or similar investments. Other W-forms handle other international issues. The IRS released a new version of W-8BEN in February 2014 that required corporations to sign a W-8BEN-E form instead, which was still in draft status. For foreign corporations it was unclear, whether they were required to sign the previous W-8BEN form (established in 2006) or to sign the draft version of W-8BEN-E.

W-9

Main article: Form W-9
Form W-9, 2005

The Form W-9, Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification, serves two purposes. First, it is used by third parties to collect identifying information to help file information returns with the IRS.[39] It requests the name, address, and taxpayer identification information of a taxpayer (in the form of a Social Security Number or Employer Identification Number). The form is never actually sent to the IRS, but is maintained by the person who files the information return for verification purposes. The information on the Form W-9 and the payment made are reported on a Form 1099.[40] The second purpose is to help the payee avoid backup withholding. The payer must collect withholding taxes on certain reportable payments for the IRS. However, if the payee certifies on the W-9 they are not subject to backup withholding they generally receive the full payment due them from the payer.[39] This is similar to the withholding exemptions certifications found on Form W-4 for employees.

W-10

The Form W-10, Dependent care provider identification, is a way for day care service providers to provide information to the individual so they can take credits for care of their children. This form is frequently replaced with a freeform statement indicating the Tax ID of the day care or individual and how much is paid.

W-11

The Form W-11, Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act Employee Affidavit, is to certify that a new employee was previously unemployed in order to qualify for a tax credit in accordance with the HIRE act.

W-12

The form W-12 is a form for tax preparation professionals to apply for their ID Number. It is being phased out in favor of an electronic application.

Other forms

Form 2553, 2005

Public disclosure

In the United States, tax records are not publicly available, with the exception of Forms 990 and 1023 for nonprofit organizations which are generally open for public inspection. Selected tax data is released as economic data for research.[42] In other countries such as Norway and Finland, tax records are public information. Tax filings in the U.S. were not private when federal income taxation began in 1861, but controversy led to Congress prohibiting any examination of tax records by 1894. Congress allowed public examination of individual and corporate tax payments only in 1923, but the disclosure was eliminated by 1924. In 1934 the measure was briefly considered again. As of 2010, various experts have advocated that the income and tax payments be released for individuals and corporations to shed further light on tax efficiency and spur reform. These experts have suggested only releasing information that cannot be used for identity theft to address privacy concerns.[43]

See also

References

  1. ↑ See Publication 1796-A, IRS Historical Tax Products (rev. Feb. 2007), Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Dep't of the Treasury.
  2. ↑ "Schedule L and Schedule M are gone". Bankrate.com. Retrieved 2013-03-10.
  3. ↑ Schedule M, (Instructions)
  4. ↑ http://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleaebeling/2014/11/04/irs-commissioner-predicts-miserable-2015-tax-filing-season/
  5. ↑ "Pension Protection Act of 2006, Section 1223(b)". Government Printing Office. August 17, 2006.
  6. ↑ "Notice 2011-43: Transitional Relief Under Internal Revenue Code § 6033(j) for Small Organizations". Internal Revenue Bulletin: 2011-25. Internal Revenue Service. June 20, 2011.
  7. ↑ IRS (2008-02-04). "Governance and Related Topics - 501(c)(3) Organizations" (PDF). Online.irs.gov. Retrieved 2009-06-05.
  8. ↑ "Form 990 Redesign for Tax Year 2008 (Filed in 2009)". 2013taxes.org. 2014-02-19. Retrieved 2014-03-17.
  9. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20050426051312/http://www.irs.gov/instructions/i990-ez/. Archived from the original on April 26, 2005. Retrieved January 22, 2007. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. ↑ "Annual exempt organization return: Due date". IRS. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
  11. ↑ "Penalties for Not Filing Form 990". IRS. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
  12. ↑ "Penalties for Failing to Make Forms 990 Publicly Available". IRS. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
  13. ↑ "Nonprofit Form 990 Search". Citizen Audit. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  14. ↑ "Nonprofit Organization Information". Economic Research Institute. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
  15. ↑ http://tfcny.fdncenter.org/990s/990search/esearch.php
  16. ↑ "guidestar.org". guidestar.org. 2014-03-06. Retrieved 2014-04-23.
  17. ↑ "nccs.urban.org". nccs.urban.org. 2008-07-15. Retrieved 2014-04-23.
  18. ↑ "FAQ for Donors". Charity Navigator. Retrieved 2014-04-23.
  19. ↑ "Learning Center and Store". BoardSource. Retrieved 2014-03-17.
  20. ↑ "Instructions for Form 1040NR-EZ" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  21. 1 2 Hershey, Robert D. (January 30, 1994). "Obeying the Tax Laws: Small Business' Burden". New York Times. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  22. ↑ "TurboTax Business Forms Included: C corporations (Form 1120)". Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  23. ↑ Hershey, Robert D. (February 11, 2007). "YOUR TAXES; For Entrepreneurs, a Crash Course in Accounting". New York Times. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  24. ↑ "TurboTax Business Forms Included: S corporations (Form 1120S)". Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  25. ↑ "IRS Announces Start Date To 2014 Business Tax Season". Forbes. December 20, 2013. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  26. ↑ "Form 1120 (2015)" (PDF). Internal Revenue Service. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  27. ↑ "TAX BLANKS DELAYED.; But Corporations May Use Tentative Forms for Their Returns.". New York Times. March 8, 1919. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  28. ↑ "3 NEW INCOME TAX FORMS". New York Times. May 13, 1919. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  29. ↑ "RETURN OF ANNUAL NET INCOME OF INDIVIDUALS" (PDF). Internal Revenue Service. October 3, 1913. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  30. ↑ "1913 Internal Revenue Service 1040 Form". Tax Foundation. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  31. ↑ McBridge, William (September 1, 2011). "Beyond the Headlines: What Do Corporations Pay in Income Tax?" (PDF). Tax Foundation. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  32. ↑ Moody, J. Scott; Warcholik, Wendy P.; Hodge, Scott A. (December 1, 2005). "The Rising Cost of Complying with the Federal Income Tax" (PDF). Tax Foundation. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  33. ↑ Sanders, Laura (January 16, 2015). "What Tax Preparers Are Really Charging for 2014 Returns". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  34. ↑ Forbes, The Rise of The 1099 Economy: More Americans Are Becoming Their Own Bosses, http://www.forbes.com/sites/joelkotkin/2012/07/25/the-rise-of-the-1099-economy-more-americans-are-becoming-their-own-bosses/
  35. ↑ IRS instructions for form 1099, including a guide to what payments must be reported.
  36. ↑ Topic 801 - Who Must File Electronically, Internal Revenue Service.
  37. ↑ Instructions for Form 1099-MISC (2012), Internal Revenue Service.
  38. ↑ See generally 26 U.S.C. § 6051, 26 C.F.R. sec. 31.6051-1 and sec. 31.6051-2.
  39. 1 2 Internal Revenue Code § 31.3406(h)-3
  40. ↑ Internal Revenue Code § 1.6041-1
  41. ↑ http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2014/04/22/get-deduction-when-using-loans-to-pay-tuition/
  42. ↑ Greenia N. (2007). "Statistical Use of U.S. Federal Tax Data". SOI Paper Series.
  43. ↑ Bernasek A. (2010). "Should Tax Bills Be Public Information?". The New York Times.

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